Our submission to Independent Review of the MHA 1983

We submitted a response to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Our submission highlights key principles for the Review to consider:

The law should support modern principles and the practice of care and treatment for mental health patients.

The Review should seek to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness. Wherever appropriate the principles governing mental healthcare should be the same as those which govern physical health.

Patients must always get the care appropriate to their needs, with informal treatment, care and support preferred over compelling a patient to receive treatment.

Our submission also includes more detail on specific areas for the Review to look at.

These are:

Community Treatment Orders (CTOs)

Nearest Relative

Advance Care Planning

Safeguards: Advocacy

Safeguards: Tribunals and Statutory Second Opinions

Reforms to Part III

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Intellectual Disability

The College looks forward to continuing to work with the Review in any of these areas.